May 25, 2016
Lynmouth to Combe Martin
23.50 km
34,463 steps
According to our guidebook and our
“helpful” proprietor, this day’s stage is supposed to be the hardest on the
Devon Coast. Ken tossed and turned most
of the night worried we would be walking forever. I had contacted our next lodging to let them
know we may be late and thus we steeled ourselves with what we were told would
be a day of many, many ups and downs.
But first, I have to mentioned how the pub
“Mum” made us a HUGE breakfast with so much food I was able to make sandwiches
with the left over toast, sausages and eggs.
So the good news is we shouldn’t bonk on our way to Combe Martin. And we save money – more pounds for cider!
Once again the weather was fantastic which
is both a blessing and a curse when you have a lot of climbing. Great views because of the sun. But hot going as the heart rate goes up. If I have to work out, I’d rather it be a
cold day than a warm one. So perhaps I
should re think any future hikes in deserts or any place where the temperature
gets above 18 Celsius during the day.
Leaving Lynmouth you have one of two ways
to get up to Lynton – the very cool antique cable car or walk. Sadly, the cable car does not open until 10
am so we walked. It’s a nice switchback
path with lots of stairs and great views.
Although I could have done without a climb early in the morning I was
glad we did since this route is also decorated with poetry plaques from a
contest held a few years ago. In 2014,
poetry boxes where left on trail viewpoints for people to stop, linger and pen
some prose. They would leave them in the
box and eventually, out of 2000+ poems collected, a series of 24 were
chosen. They now dot the way up attached
to solar lamp posts. My favorite was by 5-year-old
Casey:
I am sitting in the sun
I am sitting with my Mum
I am sitting on my bum
There are lots of sailboats
And seagulls
The end I want ice cream
After leaving Lynton we enter the Valley of
the Rocks with formations such as “The Devil’s Cheesewring” and “Jack’s
Castle.” Legend has it the stunning
formations were once a castle filled with beautiful women who were the wives’
of the Devil (also known as Jack). One
day the Devil returned home and found his wives indulging in a drunken orgy and
in a fit of rage, he destroyed the castle and turned all the women into stone
pillars. (I know. I know.
Devil. Orgy. Why was this even an issue… but someone else
made up the legend not me.) Prior to
Roman and Christian invasion, this was a popular site for Druids to congregate
for ritual. Nowadays, it is used as a
routing for extreme runners in the Lorna Doone ultra marathon held in
September.
From Valley of the Rocks it's down into the
stunning grounds of Lee Abbey and then back up again via Woody Bay to the old
Roman “fortlet” on top of Highveer Point.
We didn’t see any fortlet but we did see signs saying Hunter’s Inn
(SCONES!!) at the bottom of the
valley! So SHUT UP LEGS let’s get down
this valley pronto!
The descent into the Heddon Valley is the
steepest in England and your knees will never forgive you for it but you can’t
beat the spectacular scenery on the way down.
The river Heddon empties into the beach at the base of majestic
cliffs. The valley floor is forested and
serene. I did not get any scones because
it was a 2km hike off the trail to Hunter’s Inn and Ken had us on a ridiculous
military march schedule due to all the drama around this stage being so
arduous.
So now begins the climb up. Way up.
From here we do a lot of switchbacks with stairs that are not ergonomic
(my knees hate me) until we reach the top of Great Hangman – sea level to 1,043
ft. Another decent and then climb up
“Little Hangman” and now we are on the home stretch into Combe Martin.
The good news is we are making excellent
time. We got into town around 5:30 and
to our lodgings at the Cranleigh House by 6. This was our first Air BnB stay
(ever) and one of many we will have throughout the walk. Stewart and Katherine were great. Very New Age and Zen. So much so that when we arrived they
mentioned they were in the middle of a cleanse and are vegan. Ken is taking this all in while drinking a Diet Coke that he is trying to discreetly tuck under his jacket sleeve. Good thing when we bought it at the corner
store we didn’t also go for a couple of “Man Size” sausage rolls to munch on
when we arrived.
Dinner that night was across the street at
the famous “Pack O' Cards” so named because it has 52 windows, 4 floors, 13 doors
on every floor and 13 fireplaces.
Sitting behind us was Leonard Nimoy’s doppelganger. Or maybe it was Mr. Spock himself. He's came back before so who’s to say it can’t
happen again?
May 26, 2016
Combe Martin to Woolacombe
26.78 Km
38,511 steps
After two back to back climb days we were
prepared to let our guard down and relax our way through this next stage into
Woolacombe. One of the things to look
forward to is the halfway point at Ilfracombe – a beautiful harbor town that
has been a summer retreat for the well heeled since Victorian times. Getting into Ilfracombe was uneventful – some
road walking and general path and bridleways.
The main draw as a walker for the town is food and a chance to check out
“Verity” – a 65 ft. statue based on Damien Hirst’s “flayed pregnant girl”
history. The pose is reminiscent of
Degas’s “Little Dancer” so basically Hirst’s statue is a fourteen year old girl
who is nine months pregnant, nude, has the skin on one leg peeled back to see
the muscles, half of her scalp is gone so you see her skull and her pregnant
belly is sliced open so you can see the fetus in the womb. An art critic from the Guardian described it
as “Hirst exploring his inner Hannibal Lector”.
It’s a controversial piece to say the least that is only on loan
from the Hirst estate. You know, until he gets a bigger place and wants it
back for his own garden of the grotesque and macabre.
After a lack luster lunch of deep fried
roast chicken (it’s how the chippy “warms it up") it was time to push on to
Woolacombe. From here, we undulate up
and down the rugged coastline to our destination for the night. Occasionally we see seals bobbing below. Sheep and lamb dot the landscape punctuated
by the occasional cow. We dip into the
vale to the tiny hamlet of Lee where again, I could have had scones but Ken
stops for no one or nothing so I had to fuel my uphill climb on an apple and a
few chocolate Minstrels that Ken told me AFTER THE FACT he had dropped in sheep
dung but applied the 5 second rule so I should be fine.
Approaching Woolacombe you walk along the
Damaged Cliffs and Bull Point Lighthouse (a way more climatic lighthouse than
the one into Lynmouth). Then a final
push around Baggy Point and into Woolacombe
Woolacombe is known as a surfer’s paradise but I
saw nary a wave. There was also no
Chinese Take-Away, which really annoyed me because all I could think of for the
last 10 km was how badly I wanted beef and broccoli on rice and about 40 spring
rolls. Instead, we had takeaway chicken
gumbo (surprisingly good!) and a mini bottle of prosecco for my legs.
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| The (water driven) cable car up from Lynmouth to Lynton, which being purists we did not use ;-) |
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| A flowery day at the beach |
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| Got milk? |
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| The path into Ilfracombe |
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| Ken summits the rock nipple of the Great Hangman |
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| Lamb escorts optional |
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| I see Ewe! |
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| Leaving Lynmouth-on the "switchback path of poetry..." |
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| Surf's up at Woolacombe! |
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| It's a long way to Poole... |
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| Coming around the cliffs into Ilfracombe |
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| Verity! (If you want to see her in the flesh(less) you'll have to Google her) |
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| Coming into Woolacombe |
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| Damaged Beach |
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| Leaving our mark at Woolacombe Beach |
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| Tea time with a view |
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| The great grind... |
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| Reflecting... |
